The Sittingbourne rider is now well off the pace overall

Kent’s Shane ‘Shakey’ Byrne crashed out as he was beaten in the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch over the Easter weekend by Luke Mossey, who claimed a double victory.

In the opening race of the day Leon Haslam had led the pack on the opening lap ahead of his JG Speedfit Kawasaki team-mate Mossey and pole-sitter James Ellison, but two laps later the McAMS Yamaha rider had hit the front as Haslam ran wide at Druids.

The leading trio were closely followed by Christian Iddon, but Ellison was trying to break the pack.

Ellison had edged out a small advantage, however his hard work ended with a crash at Druids as he slid out of contention on the twelfth lap.

That left Mossey leading Haslam and Iddon with the scrap for second place intensifying – they traded blows before Iddon made a move at Paddock Hill Bend that kept Haslam in third.

Sittingbourne’s Byrne though was closing in on Iddon and Haslam and with four laps to go he was within striking distance.

Haslam knew the defending champion was gaining and he then made a move on Iddon at Paddock Hill Bend to move second.

It was short lived when the Tyco BMW rider returned the move at Druids, but as they exited Graham Hill Bend, Haslam was back ahead.

At the front Mossey went on to claim the victory with Haslam just having the edge over Iddon and Byrne at the line.

The Be Wiser Ducati rider had broken through the pack behind him that featured Dan Linfoot in fifth as the Honda Racing team made big steps forward with Glenn Irwin separating him from the second Fireblade of Jason O’Halloran.

Michael Laverty, Peter Hickman and Josh Brookes completed the top ten with Sylvain Guintoli retiring from the race with a technical problem.

There was more drama for Ellison in race two as the pole sitter didn’t take the start of the race after his race one crash. He had headed out onto the grid, but retired after the warm up lap.

JG Speedfit Kawasaki’s Haslam had again taken the lead on the opening lap, but Mossey, Iddon and O’Halloran were ready to try and make a move.

Mossey didn’t wait long and a lap later made a dive down the inside at Paddock Hill Bend, however Haslam instantly fought back to regain the position into Druids.

Three laps later and Mossey went for a repeat move on the brakes into Paddock Hill Bend with Haslam again forcing his way back into the lead as the JG Speedfit Kawasaki team-mates approached Druids for the fifth time.

A lap later and Mossey made the move and defended hard and then Haslam was coming under attack from Iddon onboard the Tyco BMW, who made a move into Paddock Hill Bend a few laps later and was keeping Haslam at bay.

The leading four though were being closed again by Byrne and he made a move on Haslam to move into third, however it was a double disappointment for the Be Wiser Ducati team as both the defending champion and Irwin crashed out unhurt at Clearways within just laps of each other.

Mossey had more in the final laps and he began easing ahead of Iddon with Haslam taking evasive action when Byrne had crashed ahead of him to drop off the leading pair, but a double podium means he retained his position at the top of the standings.

Josh Brookes won the battle of the Australians by mugging O’Halloran for fourth place at the line as the Honda Racing rider achieved their best position of the season so far in fifth ahead of his team-mate Dan Linfoot who emerged ahead after an epic scrap with Smiths Racing BMW’s Peter Hickman.

Rookie Bradley Ray claimed his first top ten finish of the season in eighth place with John Hopkins and Sylvain Guintoli in ninth and tenth respectively.